Industrial espionage at TSMC. Chip secrets sold to the Japanese

A court in New Taipei City sentenced five people to up to 10 years in prison for stealing trade secrets related to TSMC's chip production technology and transferring them to the Japanese company Tokyo Electron Ltd. The case is one of the most high-profile cases of theft of key technologies on the island.

The main defendant, former TSMC engineer who later worked for Tokyo Electron, Chen Li-ming, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking data on advanced 2-nanometer technology. Three other former employees of TSMC, the world's largest contract manufacturer of innovative chips for artificial intelligence, were sentenced to two to six years in prison.

The court also sentenced the former Tokyo Electron employee to 10 months in prison, suspended for three years. Tokyo Electron's Taiwanese branch received a fine of NT$150 million (approximately USD 5 million).

The judgment, which is not final, was issued pursuant to the provisions of the National Security Act.

According to the Taiwanese prosecutor's office, which officially brought the case to court in August 2025, the defendants unlawfully obtained and transferred trade secrets. Their main goal was to help the Japanese corporation win more lucrative orders for specialized manufacturing equipment from the Taiwanese technology giant.

Representatives for Tokyo Electron and TSMC did not immediately respond to requests for official comment on Monday's ruling.

Krzysztof Pawliszak (PAP)

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